Pull
by writersfatigue89
Summary: Many say you can't go searching for love, that instead, it has to find you...That you'll be acting out your everyday life and it will just come right up and blindside you...But what if love wasn't so willing to make itself known? What if love didn't always act the way they said it did?
1. Chapter 1

"Spencer!" The voice cut through the low base filling the dark and crowded room. I looked over at my roommate who was pushing her way through the mess of people, moving in my direction. She stopped briefly to step over a sweaty body sprawled on the floor and threw me a why-the-fuck-are-we-hear look.

"Madison," I chuckled as she finally slid up next to me, "_you _dragged _me _here, not the other way around, so don't give me that look."

"Whatever. Let's just go out back, Jessica is out there waiting. It's too damn hot in here!" She exclaimed, shoving off a drunk girl who was trying to use her for support. "Ugh, seriously!"

I turned to the small group of people I had been talking to for the past half hour and threw them the whole 'nice meeting you' followed by an apologetic smile routine as Madison started pulling me away.

"Wait," I felt a large hand grab my wrist, "I thought maybe we could head out of here," a gruff voice said "you know, just you and me?"

I fidgeted a little as I looked down at the hand clamped onto my arm and let out a small sigh, "I'm flattered, really, but-"

"Listen buddy," Madison's harsh voice came shooting over my shoulder, "unless you drop the dick and grow a hot rack she's not interested." My eyes shot from my wrist up to the shocked faced staring at Madison. "So," she continued with a rough tug on my arm that brought me stumbling backwards into her, "I suggest you back off." And with that she turned on her heel and continued pulling me through the sea of people.

A smile spread across my face as I watched the back of Madison's head. We hadn't always been friends. Hell, there was a time we couldn't stand each other. But that was back in High School when she was Head Cheerleader and I was the girl she kicked off the squad for dating a basketball player. A female basketball player to be a little more specific.

Can't get much higher on the Bitch Scale than that.

We exchanged a slew of unflattering words and phrases through the rest of our High school years but things changed once college came around. I had answered an ad for two girls looking for a roommate my Freshman year at UCLA and one of them turned out to be Madison. We were both shocked when I showed up for a tour but she quickly apologized for her past behavior, explaining that she had changed and was deeply sorry for how she'd treated me. She even threw in the fact that her other roommate, Jessica, was actually gay and she had no problem with it. It took a little while for me to come around to the idea of living with Madison but after some persuasion I decided to go for it.

We've been roommates and friends ever since.

And she's a great one, friend that is, but sometimes she tends to be a little overprotective. Hence the whole "drop the dick" situation. I'm guessing it has something to do with feeling bad for how she treated me in High School and, even though it can be a bit much at times, can't criticize her for caring, right?

I let out a long sigh when I felt a cool breeze pull my hair away from my neck and face.

"Better right?" Madison grinned as she looked over at me.

"Much." I took in the backyard we had stepped out into. It was dimly lit by strings of white hanging lights that swayed back and forth ever so slightly in the gentle breeze. The lawn was outlined by leafy trees and there was what looked like a pool and pool house farther out. "Whose house is this anyway?" I mused allowed.

"Who knows, gotta be someone rich though yeah?" A voice to my left made me jump.

"Jessica, you scared me!" I scolded my read-headed roommate with a smile as she snaked her arm around my waist.

"Well not a hard thing to do, you're always milling around in that head of yours." She chided gently before striding forward, beckoning me and Madison to follow.

We ended up down at the pool, all three of us, with our feet dangling over the edge. Madison was swaying next to me. She was humming some obscure tune, spilling beer over the side of her cup every so often. Jessica was over on the other side of the pool. She had been laughing and leaning into the ear of some girl for the last ten minutes. I sighed inwardly as I nursed my beer. This was definitely going to be a longer night than I had hoped. There was no way I was going to be able to pull Jessica away from that pretty blonde anytime soon and it was safe to say I'd be needing her help getting Madison home tonight.

I let my eyes scan over the small clusters of intoxicated people scattered in and around the pool. The light danced over their bodies and faces as it bounced off the surface of the water. Everything felt a bit surreal in this place, almost like time had slowed to a lazy meander. The inhabitants of the small space looked to be a little less than human; the light adding more dignity to their features than their current states deserved. It was then that I felt my breath catch in my chest as my eyes fell on her.

One thought occupied my mind.

Beautiful.

She was leaning her hip on one of the poolside tables, bracing herself on a hand as her body curved forward, talking to another woman in a chair in front of her. Soft auburn curls framed her face and even in this light I could tell her skin was a delicate bronze. A self-assured smile graced her perfect face as she looked down, deep in conversation.

The sounds of water and chatter died around me and the thump of my heart deepened but slowed as my whole body focused its attention on her. I saw her forehead crease slightly with a frown. Her head snapped up and her eyes immediately locked onto mine from across the pool as if she knew she was being watched. As if she knew it was me doing the watching.

I was too surprised to look away. Surprised by the intense dark eyes that held onto my cobalt blues. Surprised by the way my body was reacting to the whole situation. I don't know how long we had been staring at each other but all I could focus on was the steady, deep thumping of my heart and those eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

**Oh hey babykennedy and Avarenda, thanks for being my first reviewers ever :) Hopefully this keeps you mildly interested. I will try to update with some frequency but I have the attention span of a gnat and I'm in the process of recovering from midterms (aka I'm being a baby) but I'll do my best!**

**I own nothing.**

My body shivered involuntarily and my cheeks felt hot and flushed. _Those eyes_. The brunette across the pool straightened up as her lips eased into a confident smirk. My eyes tore themselves away from hers and crept down her toned and tanned body, falling over her breasts and the contour lines of her abdomen. My gaze quickly snapped back up to meet hers as she began to take step after step closer to the pool, closer to me. The way she moved reminded me of a big cat making its way towards its prey, confident in its stalking. I had no idea where the other occupants of the pool area had gone, or how they had left without my noticing, but I was left sitting on the edge of the pool alone with this newly discovered predator.

Still holding me captive with her gaze, she stopped, inches away from the glassy surface, and raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow before slowly lowering her body into the pool. My breathing grew unsteady and my heart pounded savagely in my chest. The water lapped lazily at her flawless figure as she made her descendent. She pressed her body forward, sending small ripples through the cool liquid, steadily diminishing the space between us. I slammed my eyes shut just as I felt her body press between my knees, my nerves finally catching up to me. _Oh God._

Slick skin against slick skin.

Lips running up my stomach and over my chest.

My hands tangled in soft curls.

A delicate nip to my collarbone coaxed a moan from my throat as a damp hand inched its way up my thigh. Fingers ran over the front of my shorts just before a hand dipped into them, fully cupping my aching-

"Spencer! What is with you? Are you feeling okay?"

What? Huh? Wait… "What?" Oh God Spencer, get your breathing under control. Act like you were _not _just daydreaming up a hot sexual encounter with a certain sexy brunette.

"Are you sick or something? You're breathing like you just ran a marathon…"

I glance over at Madison sitting next to me at our kitchen table before hastily shoving a forkful of pancake into my mouth. "Uhhh, no…I mean…I was just-I was thinking. That's all." I choke out, my face still more than a little flushed.

"Yeah, probably about that sex-pot you were eye-fucking from across the pool last night," Jessica offered casually from the couch, her eyes never leaving the television.

I nearly choked on my orange juice. "What?! Jessica, I was _not-"_

"Oooh, who was it?" Madison cooed, cutting off my weak attempt at a protest.

"Oh umm…" Jessica hesitated a little and briefly glanced up at Madison before looking back at the T.V. "Ashley….Davies." She answered in an uncharacteristically quiet voice.

Madison's eyes narrowed as soon as the last name fell from Jessica's lips. "Spencer, you were eye-fucking Ashley Davies?" Her question was phrased calmly but I didn't miss the dangerous hum in her tone.

"No! Jessica come on," I looked pleadingly at the fidgeting red-head. I was definitely not feeling comfortable with where this conversation was going and apparently neither was she. "I wasn't. We made eye contact for like, two seconds from across the pool. That was it. And even if I _was_ 'eye-fucking' her—which, by the way" I add pointing my fork at the other two, "is the stupidest term—it wouldn't have lasted long anyway because _someone_ threw up into the pool."

That's right, Madison lost it, and by it I mean everything, directly into the pool. Needless to say things got a little hectic for a bit what with me trying to avoid the mess spreading through the water and Jessica dragging our roommate off to some bushes.

Not to mention all the half-naked bodies scrambling over the edges of the pool.

By the time I looked back across the water, eyes practically craving the alluring brunette, she was gone.

Probably disgusted by the spectacle.

We stayed just long enough to make sure Madison wouldn't mess up my car before heading home, so there was little opportunity for me to catch another glimpse of the woman.

"Yeah Mads," Jessica threw herself into the change of topic with a wave of relief washing over her features, "way to give an offering to the Pool God. Everyone in the vicinity was sooo grateful."

"Shut up Jess." Madison drawled dismissing Jessica's comment with a wave of her hand. "Spencer," her eyes locked onto mine, "Ashley Davies is the last person you should be throwing sex eyes at. She's bad news. You're too sweet, she'd tear you to shreds and take you for all your worth."

A slight frown made its way across my face. This Davies girl couldn't be _that_ bad. Madison's actions have fallen on the protective side in recent years so surely she was blowing things a little out of proportion. "Maddie…I think that might be a little overdramat-"

"No Spencer, I mean it. Stay away from her. I know you, and I know you'd find her intriguing and she would take that and run with it. All she cares about is getting fucked up and fucking. And," she added getting up from the table, "if you don't believe me, ask Jess. I'm sure she could offer you more insight…" And with a pointed look at Jessica she marched off to her room.

"Ummmm, ooookay? What was that about?" Jess looked more than a little uncomfortable in the aftermath of Madison's words.

"You know Mads, Spence. As long as I've known her she's always been a little protective. We've kinda known Ashley since freshman year and Madison's never been too keen on her. So throw those two together and…yeah."

"Oh." I watched Jess fiddle with her hands, staring fixedly at the fingers writhing in her lap. "So…you knew Ashley, or…?"

"I mean a little. Freshman year we kinda hooked up. She does have a bit of a reputation for over-indulging…in women and in…other things I guess. But from what I remember she seemed alright. Nice I guess, I don't know. We were both pretty wasted the night we hooked up so I doubt she remembers. I don't remember too much."

"Oh." It was all I could think to say. I wasn't jealous or anything, I mean I had never even talked to the brunette, but I couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed by Jessica and Madison's words. I had spent the previous night and that morning painting a picture of a demi-goddess in my mind and the reality of their words were starting to mar that image. The perfect demi-goddess was now transforming into your average loose partygoer.

Jessica laughed nervously at my lacking reply. "I know it is kinda out of the ordinary for me to just go and, I don't know, sleep with someone. I mean I know I'm a flirt and kinda a tease but I was a freshman you know? I mean, I was younger and it just kinda happened is all. Madison obviously doesn't think too highly of it but I think that has to do more so with it being with Ashley but I still don't feel all that-"

"Jess, it's okay." I walk over to her and slide next to her on the couch. "Maddie is a little weird when it comes to stuff sometimes. I'm not judging you, it's just Madison being Madison and we'll leave it at that. As long as nothing bad happened then it's not a big deal."

Her lips quirked into a reassured smile and she leaned back onto the couch. "Yeah, I just didn't want you to think less of me or anything. Mads makes it apparent that she's anything other than impressed." Her eyebrow rose playfully as she looked over at me.

"No, I'm not." I grinned at her before looked back to the T.V. "I guess I-" my smile faltered, "…I don't know."

"Hmmm? You don't know what?"

"I guess I just thought that I had gotten a different type of…I don't know…vibe from…Ashley. You know?"

"Mmm yeah. Her reputation isn't that great, but she's nice. I think anyway. But that could also be wishful thinking on my part because she is smokin'." She leaned back with distant eyes and a goofy grin plastered on her face.

I laughed at her and threw a pillow lightly in her direction. "Oh come on Jess, she's not _that_ attractive. I've definitely seen better."

"Mmmhmmm."

"Jess…."

No answer.

"Jess." I said, more sternly this time.

Her face broke out into a grin but she still didn't look away from the T.V.

"Jess!"

"Just admit it Spence, you want on Davies so hard." She cooed mockingly, finally turning to face me. "I'm going to tell her next time we run into her."

"I do not! And don't you dare Jess, I swear!" I squealed throwing another pillow at her with more force this time.

"Oh Ashley, my name's Spencer, please, let me bear your children!" I froze in mortification and she burst out laughing. "I'm just kidding Spence," she smiled standing up.

"But," she added into my ear as she walked past me, "I know you think she's hot, it was written all over your face at the pool. It was hard to miss, so don't be surprised if she comes gunning for ya." And with a ruffle of my hair she headed straight into her room.

I swallowed nervously and stared at the T.V., paying little attention to the cartoon on the screen. I hoped I wasn't that obvious at the pool. I don't think I was…was I? If Jess could read me then surely Ashley was able to. I mean, we were practically staring each other down. What if Jess was right? What if she did come looking for me next time we went out? Oh God, and what if she really was like Madison said she was? The last thing I needed was to get messed up in any type of drama. There were too many other things I needed to worry about. Like school and work and…other things. _Not_ Ashley Davies, and especially not sexy daydreams about her. And if I happened to run into her I'd be sure to make my explicit disinterest known. Plus even if I was interested, which I most certainly wasn't, it wouldn't be right. Jess slept with her and was obviously still a little weird about it. So the decision was final. I was not interested in her and I wouldn't be convinced otherwise.


	3. Chapter 3

I groaned as an all too familiar enemy—the bane of my existence rather!—tore through the quiet peace of my slumber. With each incessant pulse its insistent greeting burrowed its way through my ears, taking stinging jabs at my dream-filled haze. I threw my arm out to still the alarm's rude prodding and only then realized that I was not in my usual Monday-morning-wakeup location.

A frown crawled across my face as I cracked my eyes open to asses my current "predicament." The soft glow of the morning sun brushed past my lashes and escorted my mind back into a coherent reality. Upon fully reorienting myself, I peeled my cheek off of the textbook it had decided to glue itself to and wiped some spit from my face.

It wasn't the first time I'd woken up from a night of studying after an apparent face plant into one type of reading material or another. I pulled my aching body away from my desk and shut off my alarm before Madison or Jessica barged in wielding a stapler or some other dangerous object (and trust me, that is not an unwarranted fear when living with Madison…).

4:17am blinked annoyingly at me from the face of the clock. My usual wake-up time Monday through Thursday. Had to scrape up a living somehow, right? My avenue of choice happened to be a medium sized bakery about twenty minutes from my apartment. It served a…"ritzier" crowd. The shop was nestled comfortably among a sizable handful of Las Angeles' largest firms and corporations. We sometimes got your odd construction worker here or there, but mostly we served people that were about as white collar as you could get.

I stumbled my way into the shower, threw on my uniform, and was out the door by 4:45. I'd be a little late, but if I took the right streets and missed most of the red lights, I'd make pretty good time.

"You're late!" The barked words made my body jolt as I closed the door behind me. I wheeled around, anxious to address the voice, and found myself looking into familiar brown eyes.

"Shut up Chase, you scared the crap out of me." I shot at the boy now standing in front of me. "And besides," I added, peering around his tall lean body to glance at the clock, "I'm not even a full minute late."

"You thought I was Ol' Johnson didn't ya?" He lightly pressed his finger into my shoulder as a self-satisfied grin slowly spread across his face.

"As a matter of fact I did, but so what? Do you take sick pleasure out of sounding like a sixty-some-odd year old man with a smoker's cough? I heard that's a real killer with the ladies nowadays."

"Oh please, is that how you treat your favorite coworker who just so happened to throw a batch of blueberry fritters in early so they'd be ready for you when you got here?" He ended in a high-pitched sing-song voice while pulling a hot fritter from behind his back.

"Oh my God Chase, I love you, you know this." I snatched the fresh pastry from his fingers and rested it between by teeth before wiping my hand on his apron and ruffling his sandy blonde hair.

"Whatever, woman. Make me some coffee!"

I laughed through the fritter as I made my way to the back room. Chase and I always opened the shop together and that's the way it had been for the past two years. I was an only child, and growing up I'd always preferred to spend my time with girls, so Chase was the closest thing to a brother I had. We looked out for each other in that even-though-we-don't-really-hangout-or-talk-too-of ten-I'm-always-here-to-save-you-when-it-counts sort of way. We just had this kind of unspoken understanding. We didn't need to make too much of an effort to be in contact outside of work to ensure that we maintained a friendship. We understood one another and that was enough to keep our relationship cemented and secure. That was probably one of the few things I truly cherished in my life, that easy going interaction laced with deep understanding shared between the two of us. That's also probably why Old Johnson constantly scheduled me and Chase together, we maneuvered around each other with the awareness and ease of an old married couple. Good for productivity levels I'm sure. Plus it didn't hurt that our relationship was unabashedly platonic (much to the chagrined of some of our more outspoken regulars).

The morning was a typical shift at work: prepping for the morning rush, serving the morning rush, prepping for the second rush, serving the second rush, and repeat until my shift ended at noon. I glanced at the clock as I shifted my weight from one sore foot to the other. 11:52 am. Less than ten minutes, thank Christ. I had class from twelve thirty until three, a history paper I had to finish citing, notes for Intermediary Criminal Justice that needed to be finalized—

"When are you going to let that boy marry you?"

"Excuse me?" I pulled my eyes away from the clock and rested them on the short, nearly blue-haired 70 year old woman standing on the opposite side of the counter. "Oh, hello Mrs. Cunningham."

"That boy," she nodded in the direction of the bagel rack where Chase was quickly restocking, "when are you going to put the poor thing out of his misery. I see the way he looks at you. It's the same way my husband used to look at me when he thought I wasn't looking."

"Oh, yes, well…" I threw a quick glanced over at Chase before leaning closer to the older woman, "I think he might be a bit shy, he hasn't asked me out yet or anything."

"Give him time, dear. Men tend to deliberate more than what's good for them. He'll come around." She patted my hand lightly. I tried to suppress a smile as Chase bustled up next to me.

"Here you are Mrs. Cunningham. Black coffee and a plain bagel with strawberry cream cheese just how you like it." Chase announced while sliding the drink and brown paper bag towards the woman.

"Why thank you my dear. You sure know how to treat a woman."

"Well I try my best. Don't wanna get an earful from Spencer over here." He threw a wink at Mrs. Cunningham before hurrying off in the direction of the now beeping oven. She gave me a knowing smile followed by another pat on the hand before leaving the counter.

"My, my. She sure seems to be enthralled by the prospects of the two of you…still." I felt my face stretch into a smile as I looked up at the man leaning against the counter.

"Aiden Dennison. I was wondering if you'd make it in before the end of my shift today. I never know with you."

"Oh, I'm always pushing it as close to my lunch break as possible. No rest for the wicked."

"Or lawyers apparently." I added with a polite smile. Aiden Dennison. Handsome, rich, and one of the more sought after men in Las Angeles, despite being taken. How did I come by this information? Most of it was published in one of the more recent issues of L. A. Current magazine where Aiden graced the cover wearing a pretentious smile accompanied by an even more pretentious Armani suit. He was the son of Rory Dennison and the sole heir to RD & RD, a family-started law firm that had quickly climbed the legal ladder until it came to rest in the position it still held today: best law firm on the West Coast.

A piece of information found casually scattered throughout our numerous—albeit brief—conversations at the shop but curiously overlooked in the article was Aiden's engagement. A number of times I had found myself pondering on this particular piece of information. Why had the magazine chosen to leave his engagement out? Did he even tell them about his engagement? Was there some sort of rich-world drama surrounding his engagement? You know, one of those high society scandals found on daytime soap operas. What? They could be based on real life…

Or perhaps it was an attempt to maintain a certain female clientele (the type drawn to attractive, eligible bachelors).

Or he could've been trying to save his fiancé from any unwanted publicity.

It was more than likely the last option. Despite his cocky public persona, Aiden seemed to be an alright guy. Definitely easy to talk to.

"So," I pulled myself out of my musings and addressed the man in front of me. "The usual I assume?"

"Yep, an iced vanilla coffee for me and a mocha for the lovely fiancé." He cheerfully listed off and handed me a twenty.

"Visiting her on her lunch break." It wasn't a question, more of an approving statement. This was something Aiden did almost every shift I saw him.

"Yeah, she's such a hard worker and a total coffee addict. I don't know what she'd do if I didn't run this over to her." He emphasized his point by raising the mocha in his hand.

"Well then you better get to her before she starts going through withdrawals." I lightly teased as I slid his change and iced coffee towards him.

"Will do. Have a good one Spencer."

"You too Aiden."

We finished up a few more orders before our replacements came in. Throwing my apron over my shoulder I pushed my way out the backdoor and found Chase leaning against my car with a cigarette dangling from his lips.

"Give me that." I said, snatching the half-smoked Parliament from his mouth and stamping it out on the ground.

"Hey! I wasn't finished with that…" He trailed off sullenly as he looked at the smoke that was now crushed into the pavement.

"No smoking in my car. It's old news Chase. Do you want a ride or not? We're going to be late."

"Correction. _You're _going to be late, I don't have class until one."

"Fine. You can walk smart guy." I suppressed a smirk as I watched Chase scramble to the passenger door only to find it locked. He gave me an exasperated look through the glass. I leaned across the seat to crack the window open no wider than an inch. "Who's the sassiest girl you know?"

"Spencer Carlin is the sassiest girl I know. Now let me in, those people across the street are staring at us." I leaned back across the seat and unlocked the door. Chase slid in and threw me a dirty look.

"You're too easy, you know that Chase?" I smiled broadly as I looked at the boy next to me.

He let out an amused sigh. "So I'm told." He said as we pulled out into the L. A. traffic and made our way to campus.

I pulled in air nervously through my clenched teeth as I eased the door to the lecture hall open. Late arrivals weren't rare in lectures this large but I wasn't a fan of a noisy arrival and all the stares that followed.

Adoption and Foster Care Regulation. This class was dry, the course work complicated, and the professor dull, but it was required for my Social Work major and I was determined to pass it with flying colors. Jessica was a Pre-Law major and this was a class that we shared. However, as I quietly slid into my usual spot, I noticed the seat next to me that typically held the spunky red-head was empty. I chanced a look at the professor then pulled out my phone and shot a quick text to her, asking where she was.

I tapped my fingers impatiently on the table, waiting for Jess to text me back. After about five minutes without a response I gave up on my phone and let my eyes wander around the classroom. There were a surprisingly large number of open seats for some reason. Maybe there was some sort of Pre-Law function on campus that I didn't know about. That would explain the number of absences, including my roommate's.

As I scanned the left of the hall I saw familiar curls cascading over familiar bronze shoulders.

My heart stopped.

Was that the girl from the party? Ashley Davies? It certainly looked like her. The hair, the tan, the small frame. Her face was obstructed from view by her hair but she looked so familiar. It had to be Ashley Davies, I was sure of it. Her head was resting on one hand while the other absentmindedly doodled on the side of a coffee cup sitting in the middle of her empty notebook.

For the rest of the period I tried to get a glimpse of her face, anything to solidify that it was indeed Ashley Davies. But by the time the professor dismissed the class I had yet to get anything other than her tan and hair as evidence. I couldn't drop this, some irrational part inside of me wouldn't let myself wait until the next class period to try to catch her face. I had to know and I had to know that second. I didn't know why. I didn't question it. I just found myself quickly standing and shoving all of my belongings haphazardly into my bag.

I pushed my way by a few disgruntled classmates and rushed into the hall to catch up with the pseudo-Ashley. I quickened my pace and found myself coming closer and closer to her. It had to be her, I could feel it. I was sure of it.

I reached out my hand to a nearing bronze shoulder and grasped the smooth skin lightly. She turned around and looked at me. My eyes connected with startled and confused green eyes. I stood there speechless, letting my gaze run over a nose that was slightly too large, eyebrows that had been sculpted just a bit too much, and lips that weren't quite full enough. It wasn't Ashley.

How could I have thought that it was? Standing here in front of this girl I could see now that her skin wasn't bronze but merely tan, that her hair wasn't a chocolate-auburn but instead a dull brown, and that her frame was small but it wasn't sculpted like Ashley's was.

The girl gave me a questioning look and stepped back slightly, pulling herself out from under my hand. My disappointment was rapidly being replaced by embarrassment as the girl continued to stare at me. This was stupid, what would I have done if it _was_ Ashley Davies? The same thing I was currently doing, panicking.

"Oh, I'm – I'm sorry…I thought – it's just…you're not… someone else." I stammered as I began walking backwards in an attempt to flee the situation. "I'm sorry."

I reeled to the left and into a nearby office, throwing the door opening and quickly walking inside. My body slammed into something hard as soon as the door had closed and I fell to the ground with a strangled 'oomph,' papers falling down around me.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! Are you okay?"

I looked up at the middle aged woman I had collided with and let out a breathless 'yeah.'

I brought myself to my knees and hastily began picking up the papers. "I'm so sorry. I don't know what's wrong with me. I should've been more careful walking in here." I rambled as I picked up paper after paper. The woman was now bent down next to me picking up papers as well.

"It's alright. We're both okay. No harm no foul." She said, shuffling some of the papers in her hands.

I reached out to grab another paper but stopped abruptly when I saw the name gracing the upper left hand corner. Ashley Davies was printed in bold black letters and below it was what appeared to be a description of her academic programs. I pulled the paper closer to me and quickly glanced further down the page.

According to the paper she had been here for four years, two years longer than me. But it looked like she was only two years into her current program, Pre-Law. I glanced quickly at the woman grappling with the rest of the papers and then back at the document in front of me. Apparently she had changed her major two years into college, from Music Production to Pre-Law. That seemed odd, to switch from Music Production to Pre-Law halfway through your college career.

"Is that the last of them?" I jumped at the sound of the woman's voice next to me and handed over Ashley's paper with what I'm sure was a guilty look on my face. The woman must have mistaken it for embarrassment over the collision because she reached out to me and patted my shoulder. "Seriously honey, it's alright."

I smiled at her weakly as I stood up and brushed off my pants. I apologized one last time before walking out into the hall. I chanced a glance at the letters scrawled across the front of the office door: **Transcripts and Student Transfers**.


	4. Chapter 4

Alright, sorry about the long wait. I had finals and graduation and prep for grad school and three spiders attacked me while I was in bed so needless to say I'm trying to overcome some severe emotional scarring (at the hands of the spiders). They honestly attacked my face, and one of them literally walked away with half of my cheek skin. Not really...but seriously. So I'm all moved into my new place and currently without internet. Sitting at the local Caribou Coffee in sweatpants and my hair up in a crazy bun, just looking like your local Midwestern meth addict. I've slowly been working away at this story and have a number of chapters finished and ready to go now. I just don't really know how I feel about it yet, or if I like it enough to keep going. But I'll keep pushing it out and as long as a few people are entertained by it. It's definitely going to be a longer one. So, if anyone has any opinions just let me know.

This is what I own: zero things.

* * *

The sporadic and slightly impatient jiggling of a key pulled my gaze from my history book and towards the front door. With a soft click and a small victorious cry Jessica swung the door open and stepped passed the threshold.

"And where have you been all day Miss 'I'm going to skip all my classes'?" A grin was firmly planted on my face.

"Pre-Law internship and job fair." She stated matter-o-factly. "A good roommate would know!" She added playfully with a wink as she made her way into the kitchen. "GOD, I'm starving! It's like the people that set these things up think students don't need to eat or something. I mean hello, I bet they get set lunch breaks everyday." Her mouth was now full of what I could only assume to be cheerios.

"Probably…" I trailed off flipping a page in my textbook. I sensed what could only be a Jessica rant coming on. "Hey, wait. Did you get anything? A job or….an internship or anything?" That's it, move the conversation away from a missed opportunity to eat. New direction. Avoided rant.

"Welllllllll," she sing-songed from behind me, "now that you mention it." She hopped over the back of the couch and landed next to me with an unceremonious 'hmmph.' "I _did_ get offered a paid internship… and I accepted it! I start on Friday. Just a brief orientation so I can really get into it on Monday."

"Oh Jessica that's great! I always knew you were the smart one out of the three of us." She gave me a cheeky grin and popped a few more cheerios into her mouth. "We need to celebrate! Where is Madison? We should go out for drinks and grab something to eat."

"Yeah I'm starved, let's go to Dooley's Pub! And I think she's bartending at the club until seven."

"Perfect, send her a text and tell her to meet us there when she gets off." I know what you're thinking. Madison plus club. It could only be a nightclub. But if you thought that you would indeed be mistaken. It was actually a country club, the kind planted right on a golf course whose members talked incessantly about their yachts and Mr. 'So-and-so's' new mistress. I don't really know, I've never been there.

I guess growing up Madison's family had a lot of money and the country club was her usual scene. It wasn't until halfway through high school that her father got busted for embezzlement—or was it tax fraud? It's hard for me to remember, Madison doesn't like to talk about it much—and Madison's family lost a majority of their money to the trial and fines. She was forced out of her private school and into King High, where we obviously made each other's tumultuous "acquaintance."

I'm sure a part of her really misses that life, and that's probably why she chose to bartend at the club. To be as close to the "good old days" as possible.

We threw on some decently presentable outfits and less than an hour later found ourselves planted firmly on a couple of barstools, beers planted securely between our fingers.

"And that's when I said, 'You'd have to pay me more than a million dollars to jump into bed with your old man ass. Now tip me forty percent!'"

"Madison! You're such a liar. As if you'd still have a job after talking to one of the dusty millionaires like that." Jessica waved dismissively with her hand, wobbling slightly on her stool. I chuckled softly as I watched a very tipsy Madison unsuccessfully grab at her drink.

"You know what Jess…." She said, finally giving up on the glass in front of her and pointing an unsteady finger at the red-head next to me, eyes squinted. "You're right. I didn't say that exactly. But it was just as bad-ass, bitch!"

I was feeling way too sober to watch my roommates scramble through a drunk argument that had literally begun with 'so an eighty-five year old millionaire on oxygen rolls into the bar...' So I interjected. "But, other than the ancient man-candy, your shift was pretty good?"

"Pfffffft, hell no!" she exclaimed, grabbing her neighbor's beer glass and slamming it down on the bar top in front of her. Its contents sloshed over the sides. "I had the worst group alive come in. I fucking hate them. Sitting there all rich, with their arms around each other. They don't even like each other. She doesn't deserve him. And he always comes up to me, acting so polite with his 'how are yous' and 'keep the changes,' practically rubbing it in my face with his stupid-ass manners. Yeah, I used to live like that, and now I don't! So what?! Do they have to come in and rub it in my face by sitting at one of those stupid tables and eating their stupid caviar with their stupid overpriced wine? Fuck!"

"Oh, umm…Madison, I'm sorry." I casted a nervous glance over at a now silent Jessica. "I didn't know you disliked it so much there. If those people are so rude to you why don't you just find another job? I'm sure they could use another bartender here." I gestured half-heartedly at the bar around us.

"I don't want a new job. What I want is a shot! Where's a bartender? Bartendress! Hey! Bartender lady, down here!" Madison was waving her hand frantically as she called down the bar, trying to get the attention of one of the two women serving drinks at the other end.

"Madison, stop." I pleaded as I lightly grabbed her now desperate hand. "Let's get you home, we have tequila there. We can take as many shots as you want once we get home, okay?"

"As many as I want?" Her voice took on the quality of a hopeful child.

"Of course, as many as you want."

"Caviar tastes like ass."

A small laugh escaped my lips as I stood up from my barstool. "I wouldn't know, so I'll take your word for it."

"Ass. Just like ass. It's like that old Fear Factor show only for rich people. You know where they eat animal balls to win money. Only these people don't need money so they eat fish balls for priiiiiiiiide."

"Aren't they eggs?" I asked as I looked down on the ground for her purse.

"Eggs. Ass. Same difference."

"Okayyyyy. Jess, could you give me a hand here-"

"I believe I was summoned?" The new voice surprised me, causing my head to collide with the bottom of the bar on its way up to find the owner of the huskily posed question.

"Uh, umm, sorry." I offered as I rubbed the back of my head. No lump yet. "That would've been my roommate, who is…" I looked over at my two roommates who were now both on the floor, giggling and pointing at the shoes of another patron, "obviously in no need of your services." I ended with an apologetic smile as I finally allowed my eyes to rest on hers.

They were a light bluish-grey, in striking contrast with her jet black hair that fell in heavy but not unattractive bangs across her face. Her smile was easy, laid-back, but not smug. Her skin looked to be naturally dark, similar to Madison's, and a pair of moderately full lips outlined two rows of straight, white teeth.

"So I see." She chuckled, observing the spectacle that was now taking place on the floor below us. "Let me give you a hand." She stepped from behind the bar and helped Jessica up by the waist. I did the same with Madison, letting her lean most of her body back against mine for support.

"Madison," I spoke gently into her ear, "where did you park your car?"

"There." She said, pointing through the window at the other side of the street.

"Shoot." I bit my lip, trying to think. I knew from experience that after two in the morning that area was no parking, and violators were almost always towed.

"That isn't a good spot to leave your car overnight. Tow zone." The bartender mirrored my thoughts with a slight crease to her brow.

"Hey," Jessica finally caught on to the fact that another woman's arms were wrapped around her waist. She looked up at the dark haired bartender, her bleary eyes sweeping over her face. "You're reallllllllly pretty." She announced, a sloppy grin gracing her pale features.

"Uh, thanks?" The bartender answered hesitantly, her amused eyes met mine briefly before returning to Jessica's. "But, I have to be honest. It's the makeup's doing. I'm not allowed to leave the house without it." I smiled at her light-hearted treatment of the slurred compliment. "Listen," her attention turned back to me as she shifted the red-head in her arms, "I'm basically done with my shift. I can drive your friend's car somewhere safe. And," another shift of the girl in her arms, "by safe I mean away from cops or tow-trucks or whatever snatches cars in the middle of the night."

"Umm," I pulled my lip between my teeth again, seriously considering her offer.

"You can trust me I swear. No speeding tickets or anything. Scouts honor."

"Scouts honor?" I asked, amused by her outdated choice of words.

"Well, Girl Scouts honor or something. I was a Girl Scout for one whole month." She grinned over Jessica's head at me.

"A whole month, huh?" I asked with interested skepticism.

"Yeah, they politely suggested to my grandmother that I leave the group. Apparently I wasn't too fond of wearing the skirt. I always took it off during meetings…while selling Girl Scout cookies… I think the final straw was when I tore it off in the middle of a parade."

A choked laugh left my lips. The girl surprised me, she was so relaxed and easy-going and it was starting to rub off on me. I was in a semi-stressful situation, but I felt remarkably stress-free. I don't know if it was because of her words or because of her presence, but I felt comfortable.

"Sure." I finally answered. "I can drive these two drunks home with me if you just want to follow in Madison's car?"

"Yeah, that's just fine. Miranda!" She raised her voice over the voices of the patrons and grabbed the attention of the other bartender. "I'm going to head out now and help these three get home in the process. Can you toss me my purse?" The other girl nodded and slid a black purse along the bar top. Unwinding one arm from around Jessica's waste, she shimmied the purse over her shoulder and looked over at me. "Shall we?" She punctuated her question with a playful bow as she gestured towards the door.

"Please." I replied with a grin.

All four of us sauntered awkwardly out the front door and over to my vehicle. We buckled Jessica into the front seat and laid Madison out in the back. I straightened up and closed the backdoor with an accomplished huff.

"Alright, these are the keys." I informed the bartender as I handed them over, before digging through my purse. "And these are mine, and you can just follow me down this street here, we'll take a left just past Ray's bar over there and-"

"You know, in many cultures its customary to exchange names before completely handing your car over to a stranger." I heard her grin through her words.

"Yes, well," I said tossing my hair across my shoulders as I looked over at her, "you technically won't be driving _my _car. What is it?"

"What's what?"

"Your name."

"Oh. Carmen." She held her hand out to me, grin growing. "And yours?"

"Spencer Carlin."

"Ah, Torres."

"What..?"

"You gave me your last name so I thought it would only be fair to give you mine, keep us on equal footing. You're Spencer Carlin. I'm Carmen Torres."

"Well Carmen Torres," I said sliding into the driver's seating and punctuating my next words with a quick rev of the engine, "try to keep up." I smiled as I watched her jog to Madison's car and get in.

The ride back to our apartment felt shorter than usual and Carmen and I had already gotten Madison and Jessica into bed. We were currently standing in the kitchen; her, politely refusing a ride home and me, chiding her for calling a taxi.

"Honestly," she said, both hands poised in the air, "I made enough off of Madison alone to pay for the cab. Plus, I would categorize tonight's events as short of inconvenient in every way. Seriously, I'm beyond the capacity of complaining, I enjoyed myself too much."

"Let me at least help pay for part of the cab."

"No. Didn't you say you have to work in the morning? Where do you work?"

"Nice subject change. At Restless & Relentless, that coffee shop in the corporate sector downtown."

"Ah, I've driven by there a few times but never been in. Is it any good?"

"I like it. The blueberry fritters are to die for I swear. So good." My verbal appreciation of the delicious pastries was cut short by the sharp ring of Carmen's cell phone.

"That's gonna be the taxi. I should probably head down there. Listen, don't be a stranger, drop by the bar more often."

"Okay I will," I said walking her to the door, "thanks for all your help Carmen Torres." A small smile played its way across my lips.

"It was my pleasure" she returned with a smile of her own before turning and walking down the hall.


	5. Chapter 5

Alright, I ran over to the coffee shop to post another chapter. So here it is! It's a little bit shorter than the previous two but I hope it's somewhat entertaining.

I own nothing but a cat and a long list of student loans.

* * *

The rest of the week went fairly normally, with the exception of me skipping Adoption and Foster Care Regulation on Wednesday. What? I wasn't going to run the chance of facing the fake doodle-Ashley after I had grabbed her muttering like some crazy person. Plus don't act like you've never skipped class for a completely ridiculous reason.

Anyway, so there I was on Friday afternoon in Adoption and Foster Care; Jessica was scrambling to write down the professor's every word while I sat, slumped next to her, thinking about how crazy I had acted four days prior.

What had I been thinking? It was so unlike me. Not the talking to a complete stranger part, but the whole having such a sudden and strong urge to chase someone I hadn't even talked to part. Looking back at it, the situation from Monday all seemed so surreal to me. It was like I had been drawn to her, in an otherworldly way, without any want or need to think of what I would do or say once her eyes had landed on me.

If I really thought about it, it was a literal miracle that that girl turned out to be just that: some girl. If it had been Ashley, I would have been beyond mortified; which made no sense to me. Why would it have been worse if it had been Ashley? I honestly had no clue, I just knew that I cared more about what Ashley thought of me than what doodle-girl thought.

None of this situation even made sense. And why was I calling it a "situation"? I shouldn't be spending so much time thinking about any of this, thinking about Ashley.

I had never even talked to the girl. I mean honestly, I literally knew three things about Ashley Davies.

One. She was attending for Pre-Law.

Two. According to Madison she was…fairly liberal with her body.

And three. She was gorgeous. Absolutely breathtaking. The kind of gorgeous that made my ears hum and my heart clench. The hair-blowing-in-slow-motion-I've-got-awkwardly-swe aty-palms kind of gorgeous.

That's it. That's all I knew and yet it basically felt like I was being pulled towards her, like some part of me I wasn't quite in tune with was aware of something I hadn't figured out yet.

But I shouldn't feel it, I shouldn't feel anything. I didn't know the girl. Plus, Madison seemed to hold a fair amount of animosity towards her. And to top it off Jessica had slept with her. Surely that was enough to encourage me to drop the whole Ashley "thing."

I'd never really been the type of person to pursue another, and this wasn't a situation where I should be starting. It all screamed 'too much drama.'

But none of that meant I couldn't think about her every once in a while or _want_ to know more about her.

It wasn't so wrong to wonder what she was like. What her favorite breakfast food was. If she stayed up late or went to bed early. How sexy it'd be to have her writhing beneath-

"She's in here you know."

"Uh what?" I blinked dazedly at Jessica.

"Ashley. She's in this class, right over there." I quickly grabbed her hand before she could lift it all the way to point.

"Jess," I hissed, "don't." Ever since I briefly mentioned my chasing-down-of-the-random-girl incident to Jess, she had been giving me these "looks" and making small comments. Not obnoxious passive aggressive comments or anything like that. No, more like knowing comments, like she knew what I was thinking about kind of comments. Like now for example.

"What? I'm just sayin' Spence. She's right over there, behind the guy in the green shirt, fourth row." A small smirk crept across her face as her eyes remained trained on the professor and her hand continued to scrawl at an impressive pace.

My eyes darted down towards the fourth row, and I saw her instantly. Chocolate and auburn curls spilled over the golden skin of her shoulders. I could barely make out the side of her face, her brow creased in concentration as she hovered over her open notebook but this time I _knew_ it was her. I didn't' even have to think about it.

Her left hand played idly with the coffee positioned in front of her. I shifted up in my seat a little, trying to get a better look. Her notebook was filled from margin to margin with what were, undoubtedly, thorough notes written in a slanted script.

I looked down at my own notebook and the few notes in front of me. I wasn't a bad student by any means. I actually did really well in school. But from the looks of it, Ashley was one of those high-strung extreme note taker types. Kind of like Jessica.

I must've been lost in my thoughts for longer than I'd realized. Jessica nudged me and I noticed everyone packing their things and getting up, including Ashley.

I remained glued to my seat, waiting until almost everybody was out of the lecture hall.

"What," Jessica said from beside me, "You're not going to chase her down the hall to profess your love?"

"Oh ha ha. Thank you for that. And no, I'm not."

She laughed as she looked over at me, grabbing my books and tucking them into her own bag. "Come on Spence, so you like her. That makes people act a little crazy sometimes. No biggie. If you wanna talk to her I think you should talk to her."

"Jess, you've slept with her. She and Madison obviously have some sort of issue and I don't even know her. It's just a small crush. She's attractive, I'm attracted to her. There's nothing more to it."

"Oh Madison has a stick up her ass half the day anyway, they probably don't even know each other. And you know me better than that Spence! I slept with her, so what? I'm not gonna be upset if you like her."

"Crush. Not like."

"Whatever you say."

"So…" I was desperate to wipe that knowing smirk off her face. "You start your internship tonight. Are you excited?"

Jess chuckled at my obvious change of subject but left Ashley out of the rest of the conversation as we made our way out of the hall and towards my car.

* * *

My Friday night and weekend were astonishingly less exciting than the past week had been. Whether that was good or bad, I couldn't say. Madison had wanted to engage in a weekend long party-a-thon but I opted out. I definitely had had my fill of "party Madison" and needed a little break. Jessica was all but absent from the house. I only knew she was there by the thin line of light peeking from beneath her door during the night. I assumed her internship was already proving to be a handful. So my Saturday and Sunday were pretty standard: homework, relaxing, and the usual procrastination activities.

Monday, on the other hand, seemed like it was going to be anything but leisurely. I was working my usual morning shift and the shop was absolutely slammed. I couldn't remember the last time there'd been this many people jammed in here.

"We need more apple scones, that God-damned Mr. Crypt-Keeper literally bought the whole damn store." Chase grumbled in my ear.

"Why are we so busy this morning? This is ridiculous!" I blew hair out of my face as I fumbled with a bag of coffee beans.

"Oh my fucking Lord shit-stack fuck!"

A series of small thuds punctuated the string of expletives. I spun around quickly and shot my coworker a stern stare. "Chase, mouth!" I looked from his overwhelmed face down to the fresh bagels that were now strewn across the floor. "Crap. Let me get these Chase. You get the till for a while." I dropped to my knees and began gathering the bagels in my apron.

"Okay yeah, sorry. Just throw 'em in the dumpster out back, I don't want Johnson to know we threw 'em away." He said before helping the middle aged man standing at the counter.

"Hey, what's a woman gotta do to get some service around here?" The voice floated over the glass display case and met my already annoyed form crouched on the ground. I tried to reign in the anger that instantly began boiling through my veins the second that question had been uttered.

I stood up with my apron full of bagels, fake smile plastered on my face, ready to confront the rude customer when I found myself greeted by grey eyes and a lazy smirk. "Oh, you…" I said weakly, more than a little caught off guard.

"Yeah, me." Carmen smiled widely. "It looks like I came at the wrong time, you guys are really busy."

"Umm, yeah, it's a little-"

"Miss, I need a tall caramel macchiato right away." A man butted in from the right of Carmen.

"Umm..." I stuttered, looking between the two.

"It's alright," Carmen said, still smiling, "I'll wait. You go right ahead." She stepped aside as I tossed the bagels in the nearest trash bin, made the man's drink, and sent him on his way.

"So…" I smiled slightly as I walked up to where Carmen was leaning against the glass case, "what can I get for you Miss?"

"Well, two things actually. First, I'll take one blueberry fritter. I've been told they're to die for here." Her smile widened. "And second, I would like to take you out."

"Umm…what?" I definitely wasn't expecting a visit from her and I definitely wasn't expecting _that_.

"Out. I want to take you out. Wherever you want. You want to go to some fancy restaurant, we're there. You want to go to McDonald's, I'll be the first person in line for a 30 piece McNugget meal."

I chuckled a little. I was surprised to see her but I wasn't nervous. "I barely know you."

"Well, you know I'm not a car thief."

"Very true. I also know you follow good advice." I offered, holding up the fritter before handing it over to her.

"Yes, that is correct. So Spencer Carlin, will you let me take you out?"

"You're very persistent."

"Oh for Christ's sake Spencer, just say yes to the girl already and then get over here and help me!" Chase shot from down the counter.

"Okay, okay, yes. You can take me out. But nowhere fancy!" I added, pointing my finger playfully at the brunette across from me.

"Great, I'll pick you up. Tomorrow night around 7 o'clock."

"Wait, tomorrow?"

"Yeah, are you busy?"

"No. It's just so soon."

"Well," she smiled at me cheekily before taking a bite of her fritter, "I'm excited. I'll see you at 7." I watched feeling rather amused as she weaved her way out of the shop and onto the street.

"I'm glad you said yes Spence," I jumped as Chase's hand fell heavily on my shoulder, "you deserve some sexy time. Now get your ass back to work!"


	6. Chapter 6

Alright, I've got twelve followers. That's pretty sweet, thanks guys! (though I'm slightly suspicious that one of the twelve is my cat...). Like the last chapter, this one isn't incredibly long. But they lengthen up a bit as Ashley comes into the picture more. Enjoy!

* * *

"I can't believe you bagged a date with that hot bartender, damn girl."

"I didn't 'bag' anything with her Mads, she asked me to go out with her tonight and I said yes."

"Yeah but that's a date…with a hot girl…you better be _bagging_ something sometime soon." Madison said from the doorway of my room. I sighed, shut the textbook I had been reading, and turned around from my desk to look at the Latina.

"She's nice, but I honestly don't know her very well. At all. So no bagging tonight." I smiled at the annoyed sigh that fell from her lips. Her eyes travelled the length of my body before she spoke again.

"You're not going to wear that are you?" I looked down at the jeans and light blue long-sleeved shirt I was wearing.

"Uh yeah, it's a little cold out tonight."

"Spence! Who cares if it's cold out or not? It's you first fucking date, don't you want to look fucking hot?"

"Umm…no. I'm comfortable in this and I think I look nice." I was starting to get irritated.

"You do look nice." Her face softened a little and she stepped into my room. "But seriously, it's been awhile since you had someone for yourself, you know? I just don't want you to miss out on something that could be good. You deserve someone who treats you well, and so far she seems like someone who would do that."

"Madison…"

"I'm not telling you to get the girl pregnant or anything Spencer, just to actually give it a try."

"That's what I'm doing, I said yes didn't I?" I huffed.

"I know, look, I'm sorry. It's just, the few times I've seen you dating or in a relationship you never seem serious about it. You shouldn't short yourself…"

"I'm not shorting myself. People are different. Maybe what I want out of a relationship is different from what you want from one, or what Jessica wants from one."

"Okay, I'm just saying that I think you owe it to yourself." She squeezed my shoulder and then walked into the hallway before turning around, "And have fun tonight okay?"

"I will." I felt a smile return to my face.

"_And_," she said, pointing a finger at me, "don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"So that means I can basically do anything!" I called after her retreating form. She never answered but I heard her sharp bark of laughter followed by the sound of her bedroom door closing.

I turned back around in my seat and let out a sigh as I glanced at the clock. It was ten to seven and I had a sneaking suspicion that Carmen was the type of person to show up early. I made my way out into the kitchen to grab my shoes, and as if on cue there was a knock at the door followed by a high-pitched "Room service!"

I laughed at the sound of her shrill voice. "Read the sign. I believe it says 'Do Not Disturb'."

"I see…Oh wait a minute…What's this?"

"What?" I asked, as I walked towards the door.

"There's fine print on the bottom here...it says: 'Do Not Disturb, unless you're sexy and your name is Carmen'."

"Well then," I said, pulling the door open, "lucky you."

"Lucky me." That lazy smile greeted me as I stepped out next to her. "Come on, let's get outa here."

* * *

The car ride wasn't too long. We filled the time with your standard first date chatter. I was happy I hadn't even considered Madison's advice to change my outfit. Carmen was only slightly more dressed up than me but I felt in no way out of place. She pulled up next to a building with the word 'Triovanni's' printed on the front in elegant cursive lettering. A few groups of people were clustered on the sidewalk out front.

"Uh, Carmen?" I said, my eyes scanning over the people. All of them were practically identical, donning either a suit or a cocktail dress, varying only in color. This was _definitely_ a fancy restaurant. Really fancy. Too fancy. "I like that we decided to keep it casual, but aren't we a little underdressed for this place?"

Her amused chuckle drifted through the car. "Yeah, we are. But we're going over there," She pointed to a café across the street, "They have really good sandwiches. I just like to park down here. It's fun to gawk at the rich folk." She said the last part with a thick southern accent.

"Ah… fantasizing about the rich life?"

"More like scoffing at it." She looked over at me and smiled cheekily. "Their lives are way too easy, I need to make myself feel better about it somehow."

"Mmm," I replied thoughtfully as we walked across the street to the café. "I'm sure life isn't all that easy for them either. It can't feel good to always be wondering if someone truly cares about you or if they're just in it for the money."

"That's true." She held the door open for me.

"Thank you."

"My pleasure. And yeah, I'm sure most of them experience drama, but honestly they create it themselves."

"You sound like you talk from experience." I sat down at a table near the front window.

"I do," she said sitting down across from me with a wink.

"Have a vault or two filled with gold I should know about?" I raised my eyebrow playfully.

"Several." She smiled at me. The waiter came over to take our orders and then bustled away with our menus. "No but, my grandfather works over on one of the mansions. My grandmother used to as well before she passed away. They actually lived there, in a smaller house out in the back grounds. They raised me so I spent most of my time there growing up."

"Really? What was that like?" I asked, leaning forward.

"I don't know, normal I suppose. It's really nice out there. Their little house is close to the ocean, and the coast fairly wooded." I could tell by the way her eyes focused on her glass that her mind was pulling her away from the café and her words were just an extension of her thoughts. "A lot of trees plus an ocean, as a kid I couldn't complain."

"What did your grandparents do?" Her eyes met mine again.

"Well, my grandpa is still a grounds keeper of sorts. He works mostly with the landscaping. Not as much as he used to, it's more out of enjoyment for him now because he's getting older but he was really close with the previous owner, so they still let him stay there. My grandmother worked in the house as a cook. She was really good and all I ever did when she was around was eat. You should've seen me as a kid, I was like a little pork sausage, all packed into my skin."

"You were not!" I laughed loudly. "You look good now. I can't imagine it being any different."

She smiled and looked down at the table, running her finger across the wood. We sat there in a comfortable silence for a minute before she looked back up at me. "I like you a lot Spencer, and I know we haven't known each other for that long, but I really enjoy spending time with you."

I felt myself smile at her unexpected confession. "I like you too Carmen. You're relaxed and easy to talk to. I like this a lot." I gestured between the two of us.

"I think—no I know—I would really like to see you again."

"I'd enjoy that." I gave her a genuine smile which she returned. We sat at the café for a few hours just talking. When she finished her coffee and I finally finished my hot chocolate we moved to grab our purses and head out the door.

As I straightened back up, purse securely perched on my shoulder, I saw a familiar figure across the street standing outside of Triovanni's. I looked a little closer, trying to get a better look. As the figure shifted to face the café I knew I had been right: it was Aiden Dennison. His arm was slung around the shoulders of a tall woman with long black hair. Even from across the street I could see she was physically striking and I could only assume that she must've been his fiancée.

As I stood watching the two of them I saw another familiar figure approach them. This one I could identify from a mile away: Ashley. Her hair was pulled up loosely and she was wearing a black dress, cut significantly shorter than the rest of the women's. Her lithe body moved with a natural grace and her posture oozed confidence. I was mesmerized by her physical appearance but also by the sharp contrast this picture of her provided to the Ashley I saw in class. There wasn't a physical difference. No, she was always undeniably beautiful. But here, seeing her across the street reminded me of the first time I had seen her from across the pool. She was haughty and cocksure but it still looked good on her. It added to her intensity, and if I were honest with myself, it only magnified my body's reaction to seeing her.

I felt my chest tighten a little as a brunette walked up next to her. Her arm snaked around Ashley who, from what I could tell, didn't respond negatively to the touch. Okay, so she had a girlfriend. Or a hot hookup for the night at least. It wasn't any of my business anyway and I didn't really care.

Liar.

Whatever.

I was on a date with someone, someone who might turn out to be really special, and whether or not Ashley was taken or single shouldn't matter to me in the slightest.

I watched the four of them interact before a hand landed on the small of my back making me jump. I turned around to face Carmen with a sheepish grin.

"Ready to go Spencer?"

"Yeah sorry," I said, readjusting my purse. "Let's get out of here. I'm getting sleepy and I have to work in the morning."

"Alright Beautiful." she said, looking at me and then holding out her hand.

I looked down at her outstretched fingers before sliding my palm into hers. She smiled over at me and I returned it as we walked back to her car. The drive home was filled with the same easy chatter that I was beginning to associate with Carmen. When she walked me to my door she asked if she could see me again and I agreed.

It seemed that Carmen was eager to have me in her life and I can't say that I wasn't interested in seeing where a relationship with her might lead. Despite all her drama and ineloquent vernacular, Madison was right. I _did_ deserve to take a relationship seriously for once, or at least try to. My mother had always told me relationships required work. Maybe it was time I took their advice, and maybe the person to start that with was Carmen.


	7. Chapter 7

Here's another chapter. Gotta run, I'm late to the new Superman movie! I own only a cat, that's it.

* * *

Over the duration of about six weeks my life had evolved into something that I would describe as completely and totally ordinary. I could even go so far as to describe it as quiet; quieter than it had been since I'd moved to college anyway.

Chase and I continued our normal morning schedule at the shop.

The apartment had quieted down considerably. Jessica always seemed to be locked away in her room ever since she started her internship and Madison had been going out more than usual leaving me plenty of time for homework.

My dating life had progressed down the normal route. After several more dates and numerous phone conversations Carmen and I had become "official." And it was...normal. Describing my relationship with Carmen as 'normal' wasn't exactly the most flattering of descriptors but it was the most honest label I could give it. She made me feel comfortable. Being around her was easy, being with her was easy, our relationship was easy. There was no stress, were no fights. We liked being around each other but at the same time had no problem being apart for a few days. It was the most "normal" feeling relationship I had ever had. We'd even gotten to the point where my mother had bullied me into inviting Carmen over for dinner during Thanksgiving break. I hadn't asked her yet; it still felt a little too soon at this point. But trust me, there was no getting around my very persistent mother, I was going to bring my girlfriend home over Thanksgiving break and that was that.

School hadn't changed. I still did all my homework. In fact, with the apartment being so quiet my work was near perfect. All my classes went along like normal. Well, all with the exception of one. I had been trying so hard to avoid looking in the direction of the fourth row during this particular class for the past few weeks. If I said I'd been one hundred percent successful I would be lying.

However, I had landed in a place mentally, in terms of the hidden glances and secret thoughts I'd been giving Ashley, that rid me of any guilt in relation to my relationship with Carmen. I had struggled only briefly with my small "obsession" (if you could even call it that), but decided fairly quickly that it was more like a celebrity crush than anything else. Completely harmless, from a distance, and based only on a fleeting physical attraction. I didn't know her, she didn't know me. I had no intention of being unfaithful to Carmen and when it came to Ashley I doubted I would ever find myself in a situation that would threaten that faithfulness in the slightest. So I had concluded that, as long as I didn't act on the attraction or pursue her in any way, I was completely okay with how things were.

"Spencer…"

I swatted Jessica's prodding hand away from my shoulder. "What?" I mumbled in her direction.

"Lost in another 'lust-from-afar' fantasy?"

"Uh no. I was thinking about…Carmen. What do you want?"

"Ohhh nothin', just wanted to make sure you were paying attention." I could practically feel the smirk in her words.

"Well I was."

"I thought you were thinking about Carmen?"

"I was Jessica, but I was also paying attention. It's called multitasking. People do it all the time." I was getting flustered. Damnit.

She chuckled under her breath. "Relax Spence. I'm just givin' ya crap. I doubt _anyone's_ paying attention right now. All Wynters has been going on about is that group project." She nodded her head towards the professor.

"Do we get to pick our groups?"

"Probably. I'm gonna ask." Jessica raised an impatient hand and Wynters pointed in her direction. "Will we be able to pick our own groups or are they predetermined?" I always found it entertaining how drastic Jessica's usual manner of speaking was from her more 'business-like' one. If you were to listen to her voice alone, you could easily confuse her for two separate people. It was uncanny.

"No Miss Anderson, the groups have been arranged in alphabetical order and the TAs will post the lists up on the whiteboard here after class. I'll end lecture early today to give you all time to get together with your groups and get organized. In fact…" He glanced down at his watch, "now would be a perfect time to end. Check the lists, find your group members, exchange emails or numbers or whatever you kids are doing these days. A brief outline and summary of your topics are due by the end of next week. Late submissions will not be accepted." And with that he shuffled a few papers, stuffed them in his briefcase and made his way out of the room.

"Oh my freaking God, I do _not_ want to stand in line with all those over-eager, sweaty over-achievers gathering around the trough down there. Let's just go and let our group members get ahold of us." Jess slung her now full bag over her shoulder and began impatiently pushing past the stream of students headed towards the list.

"Jess," a slight chuckle fell from my mouth as I grabbed her arm, spinning her around to face me. "The Jess Anderson I know is usually one of those 'sweaty over-achievers.'"

"I know, I know." She waved her hand flippantly. "I just have to run into the office today and I don't feel like waitin' around. I'm busy enough as it is, I don't need to stand in a damn line all day." She turned to leave the classroom but I pulled her back to me.

"Relax," I couldn't help but smile at her irritation, it was so unusual to see Jess put-off, especially if it was pertaining to school. "I'll go up okay? Just stand off to the side and I'll look up both our groups. We'll just grab their information and leave right away. It will literally take 3 seconds."

I pulled her by the hand down the aisle only dropping it as we reached the pile of students jockeying to see the list. I slowly pushed my way through the bodies muttering an 'excuse me' every few seconds until I reached the front. Pulling my finger down through the 'A' portion of the list, I found Jessica's name first. "You're in group two Jess." I said loudly over my shoulder. The crowd around the list was beginning to thin out as students started clustering off in their respective groups.

Dragging my finger further down the list I searched for my name in the 'C's. The class was smaller than I had expected, I only passed a few other names before coming across mine. Looking to the side of my name and found my group number: 4. The members: Carlin, Spencer. Cooke, Ryan. Crek, Nathaniel. Dalquist, Jeffrey. Davies, Ashley.

Wait. . .

Wait a minute. . .

_What?! _"What?!"

I frantically looked over at the group number and made sure I'd looked up the right one. I checked over the list of members again. Carlin, Cooke, Crek, Dalquist…Davies. Nope, still there.

Alright, breathe, breathe. Why wasn't I breathing?

"You okay there?" I jumped at the sound of Jessica's voice but didn't remove my eyes or finger from the name that was the source of my anxiety. "You've been the last one here for a bit now. Spence?" I felt her step up behind me and come into view of the list.

It was silent for a second before I heard a choked out snort from my roommate. "Oh Carmen better watch out, Lover Girl is coming into the picture!" Oh God.

"Jess…" I didn't even know what to think or how to feel, let alone how to respond.

"You guys are gonna have late night study sessions."

"Jess." Admiring Ashley from the back row was different than having to communicate with her on a day to day basis. I'd already tried to talk to her once and we all saw how well that went over. I chased after her like a freak and it wasn't even her!

"Sexy late night study sessions."

"Jess!" I couldn't do this. I couldn't deal with it. It was all a bit overwhelming. I felt like that little kid that just got his first hamster and was so excited and overcome by God knows what mixture of emotions that he squeezed the thing to death. Just squeezed the little life right out of it. That's how I felt. A little excited and a lot overwhelmed. I wasn't even sure if I was still breathing…

_Oh. My. God._ I couldn't squish Ashley!

And even though I was talking about squishing in the proverbial sense, in the whole I-can't-freak-her-out-by-being-a-bumbling-awkward- freak sense, it did little to set my mind at ease. The last thing I wanted to do was have to walk up and talk to her all sweaty and mouth agape; and if I were to talk to her at that moment, that is exactly what would happen. A whole lot of stuttering and awkward pauses. "We need to get out of here. Now!"

"What? Spence? Ah, my arm!" She pulled free from my anxious grip and spun me around by my backpack. "What is the matter with you? I thought we were going to get our group info before we left."

"Uh we were. But not now. We need to go." I grabbed her shirt and started dragging her up the aisle towards the door.

"Hey! This is my second favorite shirt!" She protested from her position in my wake. "Spencer, what is going on?" I didn't answer her but let go of her as soon as we entered the hallway. She followed me through campus without a word but continued to throw me sidelong glances all the way to my car. As soon as we slid onto the sun-heated upholstery the silence was broken.

"So, Spence, wanna tell me what's goin' on?"

"Oh God," I exhaled and rested my head against the steering wheel. I honestly am going crazy. I'm officially in the running for a straitjacket. First I run after some random girl, then I run away from Ashley (who technically could also be referred to as another random girl). Ugh. "Jess, I think I'm losing my mind."

I heard her shuffle in her seat. "Okay, wanna tell me why you think that?"

"I saw her name on that list, in my group, and I panicked." Turning my head slightly on the steering wheel, I looked over at her sheepishly. She was watching me with little expression on her face, waiting for me to continue. "And, I feel crazy because I mean…I think she's attractive, and I know that at one point I was basically running down the hall at the prospect of talking to her, but now…I've just kind of, I don't know…gotten so used to having her in that place, at a distance, that I feel like I wouldn't even be able to have a normal conversation with her." I sighed and sat back in my seat. "I don't know, I just felt flustered after I saw the list, I needed at least two seconds to compose myself and I felt like I didn't have two seconds, you know?"

She nodded her head. "Listen, Spence. I think I might know what part of this is really about."

I furrowed my brow as I watched her out of the corner of my eye, too nervous to make eye contact.

"I think you have a bit of a crush on Ashley Davies—and that's okay," she interjected as I opened my mouth to protest, "It's normal, you know, to find other people outside of your relationship attractive. You like Carmen, that's obvious. But you shouldn't feel guilty or upset that you find Ashley attractive. I guarantee Carmen thinks other girls are attractive too."

I made a noise with my throat in acknowledgement and half-heartedly grabbed for my phone as it went off in my pocket.

1 text message: Carmen.

**hey beautiful. still want me to come over later?**

I groaned in a mixture of anxiety and guilt as I sent her a one worded affirmative before tossing my phone in the back seat. I felt like the world's worst girlfriend. Or the dirtiest at least.

"Really, it's normal. You're happy with Carmen right?"

"I am, yeah." I gave Jess a weak smile.

"And you wanna be with her, correct?"

"Correct."

"Okay then, you have nothin' to worry about. And," She pointed at me teasingly with a soft smile, "If you're worried about feeling guilty, just don't flirt with her. Simple as that. K? But it's not a crime to talk to her." She patted my back and turned her body to face the front of the car.

"Okay." I said, releasing a shaky breath. The car was silent for several minutes as I wove through LA traffic before I spoke again. "Hey Jess?" She hummed her acknowledgment. "Thanks for what you said and…calming me down. I think I'm just having a stressful day."

She laughed softly but kept her eyes trained on the road ahead of us. "Yeah, or you're just a bit of a spaz."

My face broke out into a grin as I pulled into our apartment lot. "Yeah, yeah woman, you watch it."

"You don't scare me." We both stepped out of the car and headed into our building.

"Mmhmm. Hey, do you want me to give you a ride to the office soon? I know you were worried about time."

"Naw that's alright, with your whole little sprinting episode, I think we got outta there with plenty of time to spare. But hey," she grabbed my hand before I could open the door to our unit, "I'm sorry if teasing you about Ashley and Carmen earlier stressed you out. I know you like Carmen a lot, it's just fun to give you shit."

I smiled. "I know Jessica, it's alright. I was just being weird. Don't worry about it."

"Alright," she twisted my hand on the door handle with a wide grin before pushing the door open, "let's give our beautiful roommate a hard time before dinner. She can deny it allll she wants but she had a man-friend over last night and there's no denying it!"

* * *

"Babe."

"Hmm?" I hummed from my desk where my nose was buried in a textbook.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure." I replied, eyes still skimming the book.

"Well it's more like I'd like to ask you to go somewhere with me?"

"Okay."

"And you can say no if you want to, it's not really that big of a deal. I just wanted to ask you."

I sighed amusedly and turned in my chair to look at Carmen. She was lounging on my bed with her head propped up on her arm. She was fidgeting, her free hand picking at the comforter. "Carmen, are you trying to ask me to go to the sex shop on Sunset with you..?"

Her body shifted as an unbridled laugh filtered through her. "No, I _know _you wouldn't turn that offer down."

"Oh shut up." I threw a fake scowl at her followed quickly by a pencil.

"What? You started it." She fell back against my bed, dodging the projectile, her posture visibly more relaxed.

"That I did." A wide grin slid across my face. "But what did you want to ask me? Or where rather…"

"Well," she sat up slightly, her eyes meeting mine. "I'm going to visit my grandpa next weekend and I was wonder—or would really like it if you'd come with me? But only if you're comfortable. I know a weekend is a long stay for the whole 'just meeting the family' thing."

"Hmm," I lifted my eyes to the ceiling pensively before turning back around in my desk. "Let me just flip through my schedule here." I knew she could hear the grin in my voice. "Let's see…next weekend…next weekend. Oh, It looks like I've got a Unicorn Lovers Anonymous meeting that weekend but I suppose I could cancel it…"

"Really? I know how you love those unicorns…"

"I do, but I suppose I could arrange something..."

"Is this your sick way of saying you'll go with me?" Her eyebrows were raised with amusement.

"This," I replied, getting out of my chair and hopping on the bed next to her, "is my way of saying I would love to meet your grandfather." A giant smile graced her features as she looked up at me.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." I said, leaning down to place a light kiss on her lips.

Carmen stayed for a few more hours and kept me company while I did my homework. Well, she mostly talked my ear off while I _tried_ to do my homework; but that's just how Carmen was, full of energy and prone to conversation. I wished I could've said that it was Carmen's presence that had me rereading the same paragraph repeatedly that night but it was my nerves about being in a group with Ashley that had my mind wandering.

I really shouldn't have been that nervous or distracted by it but in my distant admiration of Ashley I had managed to place her on a pedestal with a label nothing short of 'Demi Goddess.' It was definitely creating some sort of mental block that had me doubting how my social abilities would pan out in the presence of the brunette turned deity.

And to some extent Jess was right, I _was _worried that physically being near Ashley would bring my attraction to a whole other level. That my prior comfortableness with the distance between us and the intangibleness of my attraction to her would be shattered, leaving me with a guilty conscience. I knew I wouldn't do anything to ruin my relationship with Carmen, I was happy with her; but I also knew that, if the roles were reversed and Carmen were in my shoes, I would be anything but thrilled. But as long as I kept our interaction appropriate, there was nothing to worry about. I kept telling myself that as long as there was no flirting and no touching everything would continue as it was.

All in all, I had more than 24 hours to get myself to calm down about this Ashley mess. It was doable, I'd calm down eventually. Right?


End file.
